I always take delight in going to villages and meeting villagers.
The villager has a pure unsullied mind and the atmosphere of the
village is sincere and untouched by artificiality. Today is a
great day in the history of your village, because you are getting
a hospital and a health centre under the community development
scheme. I am glad you are aware of its importance. You have made
arrangements to celebrate the event in grand manner, all of you
joining together joyfully to carry out the various tasks allotted
by the organisers. It is this spirit of co-operation and this
joyful comradeship which your village has shown that has brought
Me here today. I am Prema and I want to see Prema progress in all
places and affairs.

Man suffers from two types of ills, physical and mental; the
one caused by the dis-equilibrium of the three tempers of Vaatha,
Pittha and Sleshma (wind, bile and phlegm) and the other caused by
the dis-equilibrium of the three Gunas: Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas
(qualities of serenity, passion and inertia). One peculiar fact
about these two types of illness is that the cultivation of virtue
cures both. Physical health is a prerequisite for mental health
and mental health ensures physical health! An attitude of
generosity, of fortitude in the presence of sorrow and loss, a
spirit of enthusiasm to do good, to be of service to the best of
one's capacity - these build up the mind as well as the body. The
very joy derived from service reacts on the body and makes you
free from disease. The body and the mind are closely interrelated.

Despair is a Sin against God

You are mostly agriculturists and so I need not tell you that
hope is what you feed on, most months of the year. Hope sustains
you, while you plough, sow, plant and manure the crops that you
raise. That hope you must make a mental habit even in things
distinct from agriculture. That will sustain you in all walks of
life. Do not give any chance for that vile thing, despair, to eat
into the vitals of activity and effort. Despair is a sin against
God; when He is in you, why do you lose hope? That is why the Lord
says when I am here, why do you fear? Be always joyful, optimistic
and courageous.

You said that river Chithravathi that flows near Puttaparthi
flows by the side of your village too, and that it is a link
between us both. But it is a very feeble link, if at all. For, it
is full only for a few days in the year; the rest of the year it
is a sandy waste! If the life-giving waters of courage flow in
your heart of hearts, then that Chithravathi is more precious than
this dry stream; it is a truer link between you and Me.

The village is the backbone of the whole country. The child
becomes man, the village grows into a town; only, we should see
that the innocent, simple, sincere child does not grow into a
cruel, hardhearted man. Similarly, we have to see that the quiet,
God-fearing simple village does not grow into a noisy negative
town. Tomorrow's leaders are being bred in this and other villages
all over the land. If you have virtue, the towns will have virtue
tomorrow. If you have strength, the towns will be strong. If you
are quarrelsome, the towns will be affected by it. Learn to live
and work in amity. Make the joyful experience of today a permanent
feature of your life.

Do not depend on Government for all your Wants

Factions and parties in villages are the bane of our community
life. All the profit of hard toil is wasted in litigation
engendered by hatred arising from them. You grow the food and the
material for clothing for the people. You set the example of
industry to the indolent. You rise with the cockcrow and you go to
bed when the fowls go to sleep. You sweat and toil and watch the
sky prayerfully with hands folded in devotion; and you live humbly
and thankfully. There is an intimate relationship between the
'Rithu' and the 'Rythu' (the season and the farmer). Your life
runs on an even keel, following the regularity of the seasons. You
do not hurry ahead of nature, as townsmen do.

I want you to be grateful to the persons who made this hospital
possible and to the government is running it for you. The
government collects money from you and arranges these amenities.
But you should not depend on the government to satisfy all your
wants. Even the officers are not all powerful. They are only
servants, who have to obey others. The government is the chauffeur
of the car, which is the state. You own the car and you are the
passengers too. Select proper chauffeurs and be vigilant to see
that the driver at the wheel does not harm the passengers or the
car. That is the duty of the owner, it is not?

The greatest instrument by which success can be ensured for all
your efforts is Bhakthi. That will give health, wealth and
prosperity too, for it will eliminate hatred and faction and give
more power to your elbow when you plough the land. A man with
Bhakthi will do every act as worship of the Lord and so the act
will be done better and more efficiently, without any malingering
or insincerity. It will also win the grace of the Lord, and so, a
Bhaktha (devotee) will be able to raise more crops and enjoy
greater health and mental happiness.

Do some inner Cultivation

If all the thousand persons in a village sing the glory of the
Lord together, that will produce greater harmony and social
cohesion than the thousand clamouring and shouting one against the
other. Prema will flood the village and fertilise all your efforts
if you take the Lord's name and sing together. Do it for some time
and you will yourself bear witness to the changed atmosphere.

Sometimes, the cloud of envy and hatred comes to darken
relationship. This is due primarily to fear, fear that causes
anger. All that will disappear with the emergence of Bhakthi and
the humility and wisdom which come in its wake. Anger wastes time,
health and character. Do not allow it free play. Do some inner
"cultivation" too, as you are now doing external cultivation in
these fields. That has to be done in the field of 'feelings,
motives, desires and promptings.'

I saw your temple while coming in procession on that
bullock-cart. I found it dilapidated and not in a good clean
condition. The heart of the village is the temple; the lamp
burning there is the life of the entire village. Keep it burning
bright and clear. Some one has placed a broken bandy cart on the
narrow veranda of the temple; that is as bad as dishonouring the
abode of the Lord. It will not inspire devotion in the people.
Keep the temple, however simple and small it may be, clean and
free from encumbrances. Do not treat it as some villagers do as a
refuge for idlers, who loiter around and play cards or gamble. Get
together a Bhajana group in this village. I know you have one; but
it must be more active; it must attend the daily Puuja in this
temple and make it a fountain of devotion. That will demonstrate
that you have gratitude to the Lord for all the blessings He has
showered on you.

Develop the Spirit of mutual Help

The doctor in charge of the hospital now appealed to you for
co-operation. He meant that you should not neglect the bodily ills
and damage the tabernacle of God. It is an instrument which has to
be well cared for. The doctor is an expert in that subject, having
studied medicine for long and being moved by a spirit of service.
Honour him for his skill; have faith in him and his medicines and
do not, by neglect or resort to quacks, worsen the diseases you
may have.

I say this specially to you, people of Budili! Develop the
spirit of mutual help. Villagers have been ruined because one
person cannot tolerate the prosperity of another. This is the bane
of the Indian character. Every one is bent on pulling down his
neighbour; whereas in the West, they encourage the slightest sign
of superior intelligence and industry and show no rivalry.
Jealousy is the cause of ruin. It is born of the undue importance
attached to the body, the senses and the accumulation of objects
that cater to the senses. See things in their proper perspective,
give them their worth but no more. There are greater things that
grant joy and peace. Try to get hold of them; every one of you has
a right to posses them. None can keep them away from your grasp.

Fix your Attention on the eternal Values

You spoke of the Brahmeshwara temple that was once here but
that has since gone under the sands of the river. Let not the
temple of the Lord that is in your innermost heart be similarly
overwhelmed by the sands of Kaama and Krodha (lust and anger). You
talked of many Rishis and Yogis who have done Thapas (penance)
here, according to tradition. Well, those Rishis and Yogis knew
which is real and which is unreal. They controlled the vagaries of
the mind and dwelt in Shaanthi. Fix your attention on these
eternal values; then you will not be swept off your feet by gusts
of passion or fits of fury. Then this village, filled with love
and mutual helpfulness, will become the ideal for miles around.